163 Dream Job

Todd: OK, Christian, what is your dream job, if you could have any job in the world?

Christian: My dream job is to become a diplomat representing my country, preferably in Japan. That's why I came to Japan to learn Japanese and hopefully obtain a master degree in International Relations. After getting my master's degree in International Relations, I would like to go home and enter the diplomat school for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is a three year program, and then, after that hopefully come back to Japan and work for the Norwegian Embassy in Tokyo.

Todd: Must be pretty competitive.

Christian: It's very competitive, but I think if you know a certain language that not many people speak it gives you a competitive edge nevertheless so that's why I came to Japan because I know at this stage there are only 300 hundred people from Norway living in Japan and not all of them are here to study Japanese, they represent different companies or schools, or they're missionaries so, that's the track I'm on right now but we'll see how it goes in the end.

Todd: How about when you were a child, what was your dream job? Did you want to be a diplomat when you were say, 10?

Christian: No, when I was ten I probably didn't know what I wanted to do. I was just too busy playing in the street, you know, having fun with my friends and these things. When I was that young I really didn't have a dream job like fireman, police. I never really went through that stage, you know.

Todd: I wanted to be a baseball player.

Christian: Alright, fair enough.

Todd: I'm still dreaming.

Christian: Oh, that's good.

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

represent

To become a diplomat representing my country.

In this example, to "represent" something or someone is to act as the authority or responsible person for it or him. Notice the following:

Is that who you want to represent your company?

He will represent his school in the debate competition.

competitive edge

It gives you a competitive edge.

A "competitive edge" is the ability to produce materials or provide service in a way that makes you more desirable than other companies that do the same thing. Notice the following:

Their company has a competitive edge because they actually have farms that grow the coffee that they sell.

The fact that he was bilingual gave him a competitive edge.

missionaries

They're missionaries.

A "missionary" is a person who is sent by a church to complete a project. Notice the following:

They are sending a group of missionaries to build a new school in Honduras.

She worked as missionary for five years before she came home.

through that stage

I never really went through that stage.

To "go through a stage" is to have a period of time when you demonstrate a certain behavior. For example, children got through a stage where they don't want to listen to their parents. Notice the following:

My son went through the "why?" stage last year.

Did you ever go through the stage when you cut your own hair?

fair enough

Alright, fair enough.

We use the phrase "fair enough" to tell a person that his statement is reasonable or that we agree with him. Notice the following: